DELRAY OFFICIALS APPROVE 60-FOOT BUILDING LIMIT

DELRAY BEACH -- With hopes of attracting high-quality development, city commissioners agreed on Tuesday to a new plan that would allow buildings as tall as 60 feet in some of the city's busiest areas.

"The whole purpose of this ordinance is to geographically and absolutely limit areas for taller buildings," Mayor Doak Campbell said. "We'd be encouraging growth in certain areas and limiting it in others."

Newly elected Commissioner Patricia Brainerd said, "The message we're trying to give is (that) Delray Beach is open to new ideas."

A public hearing will be held on the ordinance before commissioners take their final vote on Tuesday.

Existing rules allow 60-foot buildings in many areas and variances have been given elsewhere. But there is "absolutely no rhyme or reason as to where the (60-foot)) height could go," Planning Director David Kovacs said.

Campbell, Brainerd and Commissioner Mary McCarty attended the meeting at which they agreed on what to include in the "height overlay district":

-- Areas on each side of Linton Boulevard east of Interstate 95.

-- The strip between Congress Avenue and I-95.

-- Linton Boulevard from I-95 to Dixie Highway

-- Atlantic Avenue from I-95 to Swinton Avenue.

-- Most of Federal Highway.

-- The Central Business District.

Developers would be allowed to propose buildings up to 60 feet in those areas. The plans would then be subject to a public hearing and approval by the City Commission.

The buildings, which would be limited to four stories, could have no more square footage than if they were 48-feet tall -- they would have to be narrower with more landscaping around them. They also would have to prove the extra height is necessary for foyer ceilings or other enhancements.

Campbell originally objected to 60-foot buildings on the southern end of Federal Highway and on Congress Avenue north of Linton Boulevard. But he dropped his objections, he said, because no residents expressed concern.

The ordinance would limit single-family homes and duplexes to 35 feet. Other multifamily buildings and commercial and office buildings not in the new zones would be limited to 48 feet.

At the Mayor's urging, the ordinance also would allow in the new zones such special uses as a dinner theater or stadium talled than 60 feet with commission approval.

Antennae, steeples or any other add-on structures that would extend a building higher than 64 feet also would have to be approved by the Commission.